Bowman said Phelps has been practicing five times a week on average at the North Baltimore Athletic Club, usually one workout a day. He has not competed since the London Olympics, but he rejoined the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's drug testing pool last year. He regained his eligibility for competition earlier this month, Bowman said.

"I think he feels pretty good about where he is," Bowman said. "We'll just kind of look around at some upcoming meets and maybe let him swim an event or two and see how it goes."

While he could compete earlier, one event to keep an eye on is the 2014 U.S. Championships in Irvine, Calif., in August. Phelps doesn't have to race in that event to have a chance to swim in the 2015 world championships, but he'll likely consider it, Bowman said.

"I think he'd probably like to if he's going to do this," Bowman said of the U.S. championships this summer. "But I think the first step is see if he wants to be in a meet and then kind of see where he is."

Phelps, 28, would likely start with shorter events, like the 100-meter butterfly and 100-meter freestyle. "Something short to see if he's got any speed or how his strokes are doing, that kind of thing," Bowman said. Phelps would "probably" add more events down the line, he added.

Over the course of his illustrious career, Phelps has won individual Olympic gold medals in the 100 and 200 butterfly, 200 and 400 individual medley and 200 freestyle. In total, he's won 18 gold and 22 overall medals over the course of his Olympic career.â??

Bowman said he's enjoyed having Phelps back in the pool, and that "he's into it."â??